Operations

Airport Furloughs Make Motorcoaches A Viable Travel Option

WASHINGTON, D.C. — As flight delays become more frequent and get longer because of the government’s sequestration and inability to reach an agreement on the nation’s finances, there’s a much better alternative than sitting in a delayed airplane — ride a motorcoach.

Since Sunday, April 21, the Federal Aviation Administration has announced that 6,000 flights were delayed because thousands of air traffic controllers face mandatory furloughs and others are being laid off as staffing levels are being cut at critical air traffic control facilities across the country.

Motorcoaches have become now a more viable option for many trips. The nation’s motorcoach companies each year conduct nearly 700 million passenger trips, second only to the country’s domestic airlines which fly 785 million passenger trips. Motorcoach travel is safe, reliable, and affordable and nearly all motorcoaches are equipped with free Wi-Fi and plug-ins.

Motorcoach travel is becoming a very popular way to travel across all age demographics from high school and college age students to older people on a group travel visit to a vacation destination.

Numerous studies including those from the ABA’s Foundation and DePaul University of Chicago show that point-to-point or “express” bus service between large cities such as New York and Boston is the fastest growing form of motorcoach travel. In 2012, DePaul’s most recent study found the one-year growth rate to be a stunning 7.5%. And it’s not just in the northeast corridor; many companies are expanding their networks in the South, Midwest, Rocky Mountain region, and the western states.

“There are many factors driving growth in the intercity bus transportation industry,” said ABA President and CEO Peter J. Pantuso. “Price, value, and the growing awareness of the ‘green aspect’ of traveling by bus comes into play, and certainly with the next generation of riders there is a cool factor associated with some of the new discount carriers. Companies are using marketing-driven names like BoltBus, Megabus, DC2NY, and Vamoose. And now there is another major factor, the amount of time you may be spending waiting in a flight delay, when instead you could be well on your way on a motorcoach,” Pantuso said.

On a motorcoach, you already could be more than half way on a trip from Washington D.C. to New York City even before your plane has taken off. And would likely already be at your location to see a Broadway Show, baseball game, or business meeting before the plane lands. A motorcoach also costs a fraction of an airline ticket with a lot less hassle.